


Love and Appreciation

by Elivra



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: A lot of the ships are subtle af, But i just want these guys to be happy ok, Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, Flowers, Fluff, Like lots of em, M/M, SnK Positivity Week 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 19:43:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15226479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elivra/pseuds/Elivra
Summary: A new holiday takes the Survey Corps headquarters by storm, and elicits a whole gamut of reactions from our lovable cast. Written for Day 2 of SnK Positivity Week 2018 on tumblr: Ship Positivity Day.Rated for swearing.





	Love and Appreciation

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I just got this idea and somehow managed to type up like a huge block of text. I wanted to post this before day 2 was over, so there has been minimal editing, apologies in advance for any mistakes you find!
> 
> Note that subtlety is the theme in most of my canon fics, shippy or not. So yes, this one's the same. (You have been warned!) :)
> 
> Happy reading!

“It's _what_ day?” Jean stops swabbing the kitchen floor and leans on the mop.

“ _Love_ Day,” Connie repeats, sniggering.

“The hell is _Love_ Day?” Jean frowns.

“It's a day to show someone you love and appreciate just how much you love and appreciate them,” Sasha explains, waving her ladle in the air. “And not just romantic love, either. Friends, family, everyone counts.”

Connie plops potato peels in the refuse bin and waves the knife at Jean. “It's a Trost thing, Jean. How come you don't know about it?”

“It is _not_ a Trost thing,” Jean snaps. “I never heard of any 'Love Day’ growing up.” He resumes mopping. “So what? You give flowers to the person you love? That's it?”

“Well, yeah.” Connie shrugs. “But you can be creative about it.” Suddenly, he tosses the knife aside, falls on his knees dramatically in front of Sasha and offers his peeled potato to her with both hands. “Sash! You're a pretty awesome person, like, almost as awesome as me, and I fricking _love_ and _appreciate_ you, man!”

Jean can see a crude flower carved on the potato and almost rolls his eyes. Sasha, however, flings her own knife away, snatches up the potato, shrieks, “ _Connie_!” and tears up instantly. “This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!” She throws herself at Connie, upsetting a whole basket of cutlery in the process.

Jean, who has finished with the kitchen floor, hurries out before any more flying knives can cause him grievous injury.

*

* * *

 

“What the fuck is going on?”

“Lighten up, Leviiii!” Hange wraps an arm around his shoulder, and Levi pushes it away immediately. “It's _Love_ Day! All of Trost is celebrating!”

“He didn't get the memo,” Mike smirks, leaning back against the stable wall and Hange cackles loudly.

“What, they announce festivals in memos now?” Levi grumbles.

Mike lets out a bark of a laugh. “It's a figure of speech, Levi.”

“Aww, didn't they have those in the Underground?”

Levi pushes Hange away again. “You know what they did have, Shitty-glasses? Rampant murder.”

“Ooh, _fascinating_.” Hange leans in. “Tell me more-” Her eyes drift to a point over Levi's shoulder, and she is distracted as usual.

Levi turns around to follow Hange's gaze and finds Mike watching another young soldier shyly give Nanaba a bunch of small wildflowers.

“Well, I told you so, Mike,” Hange waggles her eyebrows at him. “Half the Corps is in love with her.”

“Why wouldn't they be?” Mike says, his smile widening. “She's sweet and caring and a good leader and-”

“Keep it in your pants, Zacharias,” Levi gripes while Hange bursts out laughing. He notices his squad emerge from the mess hall with their charge in tow. “I'm off,” he mutters and leaves the other two vets, ignoring Hange's loud “We love you too, Leviiii!”

“Good morning, Captain!” Petra beams at him, and her smile lessens a little when he responds with a grunt.

“Let's go,” he says briskly, scowling when he sees Mike approach a blushing Nanaba to offer her a daisy. “Fucking gross,” he mutters to himself. His squad seems to have heard him, though, and no one says a word as they leave the castle grounds on their daily training run with Eren.

*

* * *

 

“You are loved and appreciated, Mikasa!” Mikasa nearly tackles Krista to the ground, _nearly_ , when the little blonde sneaks up behind her.

Krista barely bats an eyelid at her defensive stance. Instead, she laughs, “It's Love Day, Mikasa! And it looks pretty on you.”

Mikasa frowns, brings a hand to her hair, and finds something soft and foreign to the touch. “What-”

“So you're giving flower crowns to _everyone_ , is that it?” Ymir grumbles loudly. She herself has a wreath of pale pink blossoms nested on her head, which looks completely incongruous with her dark scowl.

“I'm giving them to everyone I love and appreciate,” Krista tells her calmly.

“Oh, joy,” Ymir rolls her eyes. Still, her look softens and something like a smile curves her mouth when Krista squeals and runs over to Sasha, who is also yelling something while waving a potato in her hand. Mikasa has never seen Ymir look like that and stares at her.

Ymir notices and scowls again. “What?”

“Nothing,” Mikasa shrugs, turning away quickly. Then she freezes.

Across the courtyard is Eren, following Captain Levi and his squad; it looks like he has another day of outdoor training scheduled. She reaches up to the flowers on her head and plucks one out. It is a pale violet bloom, similar to the fields of flowers near the windmills in Shiganshina. Something in her chest seems to twist, hard and sudden.

She takes a step forward, but Eren is already mounting his horse. He does look around as his horse starts on a trot, and his gaze catches hers. They stare at each other for one long, breathless moment. But before she can say a word, Squad Levi gallops out of the headquarters. Her disappointment lasts but for a second, until someone slips a calloused hand into hers.

Armin smiles up at her. “It's okay. We'll see him tonight.”

She takes a deep, calming breath. “Yes.”

Armin eyes the flowers in her hair. “It suits you.”

A small smile finds itself on her face. “And you.”

Armin laughs softly, fingering the white sprigs on his head in a self-conscious gesture. “Krista's pretty enthusiastic about this.”

Mikasa hums in agreement, and watches Connie scream, “ _Itchy!_ ” when Krista places a circlet of little yellow flowers on his head. “Not just her.”

“Yeah,” Armin nods. “I think after what happened in Trost…”

“It's good for morale,” Mikasa realises. She has been wondering how the higher-ups have been okay with these shenanigans. Squad leaders Mike and Hange certainly seem to be participating.

“Come on. We need to revise our lessons from yesterday.” Armin pulls her hand gently, and Mikasa follows. It is only when he leaves her to get his books that Mikasa notices that he left something in her curled fingers.

Mikasa holds up a slightly squashed daisy, and smiles.

*

* * *

 

“Okay, let's go over the colour codes again,” Gunther says, and Eren repeats the flare colours that he remembers.

“Black for abnormal, brat,” Captain Levi drawls from his perch on his horse. “Don't forget the important ones.”

“Which ones would you consider important, Captain?” Oluo asks eagerly.

The Captain looks at him. “All of them,” he says, as if stating the obvious.

Oluo’s face falls so abruptly it's almost funny. But Eren is mindful of his role amongst these experienced seniors, and keeps his mouth shut.

“Shall we break for lunch, Captain?” Eld swings in from the trees, having finished his perimeter run. Captain Levi looks up at the sun, and nods. “When Petra gets back.”

“Sir!”

It has been a fairly quiet day, so far. Eren remembers the noise and activity at the castle in the morning, and feels a bit of remorse at having missed it. He remembers Mikasa watching them leave, looking somehow different with a crown of purple flowers on her head.

Petra flies into the clearing eventually, and they break for lunch. Captain Levi, as always, helps them set the food on a neat blanket on the ground. His fastidious nature is always something surprising to Eren, but his squadmates seem used to it. When the Captain is preoccupied with wiping down the cutlery, Petra catches Eren's eye, and nods.

Eren, for his part, swallows hard. He hopes he wasn't wrong in going along with the others’ plan.

“Um, Captain?” Petra announces, and the tone of her voice makes Captain Levi turn to her. “We have something for you.”

Captain Levi's eyes narrow. “What is it?”

“It's Love Day today, and, um…” She looks around and sees the hard looks on the others’ faces. “We just wanted to give you something. Because we care. For you.” She steps forward and hands a small cloth pouch to a suspiciously quiet Captain. “This is from all five of us.”

The Captain silently opens the pouch as everyone waits with bated breath. He extracts what looks like a dried flower bud.

“It's a flower tea,” Gunther hurries to explain. “It's supposed to be calming, and it sort of blooms when you steep it…”

“We thought you'd like it,” Petra adds anxiously.

Captain Levi is quiet for so long Eren flinches when he mutters, “Five of you?” To Eren's horror, he turns to him. “You too, brat?”

“Y-yes, Sir.”

“Hmm.” Captain Levi fishes out four more dried flowers. “I personally think this new 'Love Day’ is absolute bullshit, but whatever.” He steps up to them, and offers the five blooms in his upturned palm. “Here. I don't have anything else to give you.”

“Oh, but we got it for _you_ , Captain-”

“Just take it,” the Captain snaps, looking studiously away from all of them.

Eren can't quite believe it when he takes one of the dried flowers for himself. The others in his squad are fighting hard to hide their smiles.

“Well, that's that. Hurry up and eat now. We have a lot left to do.”

“Sir!”

Eren scrambles to serve himself some bread and gruel from the packed lunch. It is only when he sees the sparkle in Petra's eyes that the realisation hits him.

Not different, _beautiful_. Mikasa had looked beautiful in the morning.

*

* * *

 

It has been a… weird day. Jean really can't think of any other way to put it. The whole base is suddenly filled with a riot of colour. Somehow, the soldiers have been finding and bringing loads of flowers to give to their cherished ones. The usual mail delivery that happened every afternoon brought even more nosegays and bouquets from anxious families. Even within the Corps, he sees people pair off and exchange flowers or little gifts, people he had never expected were couples together.

The Commander has actually deemed this day a leisure day, with only basic military activities in place. The cooks from the kitchens have whipped up some sort of milk pudding - a little mushy and barely sweet, but even this humble dessert has been welcomed enthusiastically by the Corps.

It's madness.

After lunch, his mother turns up. He tries his very best to rein in his annoyance. She is crying before he even sees her, and is still sobbing when he drops her off at the gates. His omelette is shaped like a flower and he wants to throw up. He eats it instead, and manages to avoid company for the rest of the day.

Absolute fucking madness.

By the time dinnertime rolls around he just wants this day to end. The mess hall is packed, and the noise is louder than usual. Most of his friends from training are wearing flower crowns, and Jean frowns into his soup.

“Hey, Jean. What's up?” Armin sits in front of him, and since Armin is one of the more rational ones, Jean lets it slide. He simply shrugs to Armin's question, and stuffs a spoonful of soup into his mouth moodily.

“You look tense.”

“I'm fine-” Jean looks up and stops. “What the hell is that?”

“A flower crown,” Armin says casually.

“Yeah, I see that, thanks,” Jean snaps. “Why do you still have it on?”

“It smells nice,” Armin shrugs.

A distraction appears in that moment in the form of Squad Leader Hange tackling her assistant Moblit to the floor. The explanation is in a sheet of paper that the Squad Leader waves about proudly: a detailed, coloured drawing of a 'carnivorous’ flower they had found outside the Walls. A very realistic fly hangs on the edge of a fleshy petal, and Jean pushes his soup away, sickened.

“You don't like Love Day,” Armin observes suddenly.

“Oh no, you figured it out,” Jean deadpans.

“Why not?”

Jean huffs and gets to his feet, picking up his plate. Armin follows, having already finished his soup and dumps his used tray next to Jean's.

“Well?”

Jean rolls his eyes. “Because it's a stupid new fad? I dunno.”

“So if it was an older tradition you'd be okay with it?”

“Yes -no!’ Jean sighs, and runs his hand through his hair. “It just seems lame. Why wait for one particular day to tell people you care? Especially now, when it's too late, when there's so many people you could have told-” Jean breaks off abruptly, and Armin only watches him in sympathetic silence.

Fuck, he hates this day. He hates everything it stands for, everything it could have been. It's a sham, when it's happening here and now, when Jean could have done with a ‘Love Day’ or two as a spoiled brat.

Not now, after the horrors at Trost.

Not now, when he is disillusioned by everything.

They are walking towards the barracks, and when they turn into the main corridor, a sudden explosion of noise nearly makes Jean shout in terror.

“HAPPY LOVE DAY, JEAN!!” Connie and Sasha all but scream into his ears as they upend two whole buckets of multicoloured flowers above his head.

“What the _fuck_ \- guys, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” He sputters angrily. “You are loved and appreciated,” Krista giggles over their shouts and he feels her place the damn thing on his head -another fucking flower crown.

He blinks and looks around again- they're _all_ there. Connie and Sasha and Krista and Ymir, and even Reiner and Bertholdt, and Armin and - _fuck_ -even Mikasa.

“You were right,” Armin beams at him. “We don't need an excuse to tell you we love you.”

“Yeah, but the excuse helps,” Sasha nods enthusiastically.

Jean looks from one of them to the next, utterly gobsmacked. “I -I…” Their faces are a riot of smiles and grins, and even Mikasa has a twinkle in her eyes.

“We love you, man,” Reiner slaps him on the back.

“And we appreciate you,” Connie grins, flinging an arm across his shoulders.

“And we're glad you're alive,” Mikasa finishes softly.

He can't breathe. He can't fucking _breathe_ , and there's a lump in his throat-

He throws his head back and laughs. And hugs them back.

*

* * *

 

The knock on the door is part of a daily ritual at this point. True to habit, Levi waits for no response and slips into the room. He looks around, unimpressed. “Tch. Love Day, huh?”

Erwin looks up from his desk and smiles. “Yes.”

There are several bunches of flowers placed with some care in glasses and empty bottles around the room. Many flowers are already wilting, and Levi eyes the dead petals on the various surfaces distastefully.

“What a waste,” he sneers, itching to fetch his duster. “The damn things will be shedding everywhere.”

“It's the thought that counts,” Erwin says, placing his quill down and stretching. “I think it's very sweet.”

“That's because you're an old sap,” Levi points out and places the tea things on the usual table. Erwin’s smile widens, he stands up and stretches some more. Levi rolls his eyes. “Come on, you fat cat. Tea’s getting cold.”

Erwin chuckles at the mild insult and sits in the chair opposite Levi. He notices the cup of hot water in front of him and raises an eyebrow. Levi knows why - he almost always prepares the tea before bringing it in.

“Special tea today?”

Levi digs into a small pouch on the tray. “Watch.”

And Erwin does watch, his eyes widening with delight when the dried bud Levi places in his cup seems to bloom. “Oh, Levi,” he breathes. “This is lovely.”

Levi has to hide an answering smile. Erwin looks so pleased, he has to stop himself from reaching over and ruffling his stupid blond hair fondly.

“I thought you didn't like 'Love Day’,” Erwin grins at him.

“I don't,” Levi clarifies. “What's the deal with it, anyway? I never heard of any 'Love Day’ in all these years.”

“Ah.” Erwin picks up his cup, still watching his flower tea steep. “That's because it's a marketing gimmick. A very clever florist started this last year. It was endorsed by some local nobles and celebrities, and so more people are celebrating it this year. I am certain it will have spread to the other districts by next year.”

“Tch.” Levi frowns. “All so a man could make more money.”

Erwin hums, and takes a sip of the tea. “Oh, this is _lovely_. Yes, it was all a bid for better profits. But like I said, the thought counts.” He takes another sip. “Isn't it nice when people are reminded of how much other people mean to them? Or how much they mean to other people?”

Levi rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I don't need a special day to remind me.”

“And yet you participate in celebrating it,” Erwin says slyly, indicating the pouch filled with the dried flowers.

Levi bristles. “This was a gift.”

“Oh?”

“From my squad.”

“How nice of them.”

“Whatever,” Levi shrugs again.

“So you're just handing me down your own tokens of appreciation for today,” Erwin muses, eyes still twinkling with humour. “Is that all I can expect from you, Levi? Hand me downs?”

“What the fuck, Erwin.”

Erwin bursts into laughter. “I'm just teasing.”

Levi squirms uncomfortably. “Yeah, well. Don't.” He takes a swig of his tea, stands up and walks over to the desk. “So, what paperwork have you got for me today?”

He turns around and catches a strange look on Erwin’s face before it relaxes into his usual calm expression. He stands up too, and follows him to the desk, still holding his teacup. “Well, I've got some expense reports I need you to look over…”

The paperwork doesn't take as long as it usually does. After just a couple hours, Erwin insists on calling it a day, and forces Levi to go to bed. Levi sees the same strange expression on Erwin's face before he shuts the door, and ponders over it all the way to his quarters.

When he enters, he is assaulted by a new smell, one that certainly does not belong in his room. He finds the source immediately - a bouquet of delicate white blossoms on his bedside table.

Levi approaches the table, his mouth pursed into a thin line. Someone has thoughtfully placed an old napkin on his table to catch dead petals. The flowers themselves are placed in an old chipped mug that he had asked _someone_ to toss into the garbage, because _someone_ in _his_ position looked ridiculous drinking from a chipped mug.

Levi huffs, and finally understands Erwin's strange look. He thinks, ruefully, that he must have a similar expression on his face at the moment.

*

* * *

 

Eren is exhausted. All he wants is to collapse onto his bed in his basement room, but he still has unfinished business. Petra is supposed to be on guard outside his room tonight, and he turns to her to ask, but she seems to figure it out from just the look on his face.

“Ten minutes,” she smiles, nodding. “I won't tell.”

With a grateful grin, he turns away and sprints down the corridors. He can hear some commotion up ahead, but before he can find out, someone turns around the corner and walks right into him.

“Oof! -hey!”

“Eren!”

Mikasa helps him up, her face twisted in concern. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, knock it off, you just ran into me,” Eren waves it away impatiently. “Where's Armin?”

“With the others. We are… celebrating.”

Eren tries not to be jealous. He's in Squad Levi, doing important things, _classified_ things. The others are mere footsoldiers in the grand scheme of the Corps. There's nothing to be jealous about; if anything, _they_ should be jealous of _him._

His own thoughts sound ridiculous to himself.

“You can come join us,” Mikasa says carefully, but Eren shakes his head. “I don't have a lot of time. I'm supposed to be in bed.”

Mikasa sighs, then frowns. “How long are they going to keep you in that basement?”

“As long as they like,” Eren admits unwillingly. “They're doing me a favour, you know. Letting me out during the day and all.”

“Eren-"

“Look, I don't have time,” Eren says hurriedly. “I was hoping to see Armin too, but,” he forces something into her hands, “Here. For Armin. And, um, for you.”

Mikasa looks at the large red flowers in her hand, one apiece for her and Armin. “They're beautiful,” she murmurs, eyes widening, voice softening.

Eren watches her, and feels his heart beat faster for some reason. The flower crown from the morning is still on her head, though some blooms have clearly fallen off. _No, you are,_ he thinks, but for the life of him, can't say it out loud.

“Thank you, Eren.”

“Yeah,” Eren looks away, feeling his cheeks heat up. “I have to go-”

She places the flowers in her jacket pocket and takes his hand in hers, silencing him. “You deserve more than that basement. I hope you know that.”

Eren still can't look at her. “Yeah, yeah…”

“This is from Armin.” She withdraws her hands and Eren finds a daisy on his palm. It brings a smile to his face; Armin had loved daisies back at home.

“And this is from me,” she reaches up, plucks a violet flower from her crown and hands it to him. Eren takes it silently, not trusting himself to speak.

She holds his hand for a long moment before giving it a gentle squeeze. “Good night, Eren.”

“Night, Miks.”

She smiles at the pet name he hasn't used in years. Unwilling, he pulls his hand from her grasp and walks away, her smile imprinted in his vision and her voice ringing in his ears.

*

* * *

 

Erwin lied. There was more than the usual amount of paperwork for him to work on, but he had insisted to Levi that the work was done.

Oh, well. Erwin doesn't mind. If Levi was displeased with his little gift, he would have already returned to give him a piece of his mind. Levi hasn't come back, so Erwin counts his endeavour a success.

He skims through the papers, his mind elsewhere. The tea _had_ been especially lovely, both in flavour and aesthetically. He doesn't mind that it was someone else’s gift that Levi had brought to share with him. That _he_ is the person Levi shares with at all is enough for him. He grins as he reaches one of Levi's little notes.

_Sum total is wrong. Get this guy an abacus. -Levi_

Levi often leaves notes or annotations like this in the paperwork he checks for Erwin. It definitely makes dealing with paperwork a lot more entertaining. Still, it is dull work indeed.

With a sigh, he steels himself, and gets right down to it. He corrects the total in that report, rewrites a summary in another one. Before long, he is completely immersed in official business, 'Love Day’ retreating to the back of his busy mind.

Until he finds what appears to be Levi's last note from that evening. In his familiar neat scrawl, Levi has written:

_It’s a fucking mess. -Levi_

And right next to his name is a small, simple drawing of a flower. Erwin stares at it for a long minute. Then, with a smile that hurts his cheeks, Erwin folds the note up and carefully places it in his drawer.

He doesn't quite stop smiling all night.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So, um, where do I start?
> 
> \-- 'Love Day' is like maybe Valentine's day? Yes, I'm aware it's a pretty lame name, it's supposed to be lame! :D
> 
> \-- Uhh, Eruri and Eremika are basically my OTPs in this fandom, so they're possibly the most *obvious* pairing in this here fic. Apologies if the Eremika seems a little forced, the manga chapters right now have left me a shaking mess, and I'm finding it so hard to write wholesome Eremika. :(
> 
> \-- In case my hints and references were too subtle, this is supposed to take place in that month's gap between Eren's trial and the Female Titan expedition. So, Jean is still in mourning (his mother is still scared for his life), and Mikasa observes astutely (as does Erwin off-screen) that the positive vibes are good for the morale of the Corps.
> 
> \-- Also, flower teas are an actual thing! Google them. :)
> 
> I hope you guys liked it, let me know what you think of it! Thank you for reading, and hope you have a splendid SnK Positivity Week! <3


End file.
